President Barack Obama was under pressure to satisfy many different constituencies in his second State of the Union address last night. Some liberals wanted the president to support government-matching 401(k) contributions in order to promote saving; others wanted him to address gay-rights legislation; still others urged a ban on large gun clips, or deep cuts…

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Westboro Baptist Church’s First Amendment right of free speech outweighs a grieving family’s right to privacy when they bury a loved one. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the 8-1 majority (pdf) in Snyder v. Phelps, said last week that the First Amendment protects “even hurtful speech on…

Let me say at the outset that the death of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, or the murder of any child, is a tragedy. Am I outraged at the verdict of not guilty of murder or manslaughter for Casey Anthony? No. Was Casey involved in the death and/or cover-up of Caylee? In my opinion, she probably was.…

Republicans have linked the issue of raising the debt ceiling to the deficit and are using the debt issue as a hammer to repeal three important social entitlement programs to which several conservative Republicans have been ideologically opposed from their inception. Since these programs became law in 1965, many of those Republicans have disliked the…

Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy recently penned an opinion piece for CNN entitled “Why Obama’s Black Critics Are Wrong.” He contends that President Obama’s African-American critics have focused on his “racial bona fides” and that “throughout President Barack Obama’s political career, he has been dogged by … accusations that he is not ‘black enough.’…

In the years since his assassination, I have been troubled by what I consider to be the co-opting of Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision. What has troubled me over the years is how his revolutionary message has been hijacked, compromised and relegated to being that of just a dreamer. People are comfortable with dreamers. Why?…

Writing at Black Star News, Dr. Wilmer J. Leon says that the question shouldn’t be “What should President Obama do for black America?” It should be “What will black America do for itself politically, and when?” … Now what? When you look at the electoral map of red states and blue states it becomes fairly…